Education

Professional Biography

Virginia Scott joined the Department of French & Italian at Vanderbilt University in 1988. She is currently serving as coordinator of the French language program. Since coming to Vanderbilt she has served as Department Chair, Associate Provost, and Academic Director of the Center for Second Language Studies. Scott has been awarded several prizes for excellence in undergraduate teaching as well as the Thomas Jefferson Award for service to the university. She was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2004. In 2007 the Tennessee Foreign Language Teaching Association presented her with the Jacqueline Elliott Award for Outstanding Service. Her childhood in France, Denmark, Madagsascar, and Kenya set the stage for her interest in second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy. Her current work involves dynamic models of multilingualism and the notion of the ”multi-competent second language learner.” She is also exploring the impact of critical language awareness on student identity and motivation in the classroom.

Research Interests

Second language development; bilingual studies; grammar; literature and the development of second language / second culture competence; language and identity; approaches to classroom practice.

Selected Publications

BooksDouble Talk: Deconstructing Monolingualism in Classroom Second Language Learning (2010). Series on Theory and Practice in Classroom Second Language Instruction. Prentice Hall.

Rethinking Foreign Language Writing (1996). Heinle.

Edited volumesPrinciples and Practices of the Standards in College Foreign Language Education. (2009). AAUSC Issues in Language Program Direction. Heinle.